Very Rare (Fuld) Rarity Scale: R - 6).
The "Franklin" Penny and ha'penny, like the Durban Club 6d, was issued to helped overcome the shortage of currency in the region. M Franklin owned a trading store in Pietermaritzburg in 1876 and issued these rare coins not long after the Strachan and Co trade tokens started circulating.
The image of Britania holding a trident is unusual in South African coins but quite common in the hundreds of Australian trade tokens which circulated through much of the 18th Century, and for the same reason.
Interestingly M Franklin was concerned about the legalities of minting his own money so, while accepting the coin in his store, had it over-stamped with the words "a card" and "no value". A few coins slipped through without the "card" stamp - as can be seen by the second piece (a ha'penny) held by the Balson Holdings Family Trust. (See images of coins below.)
We have included this token, like the Durban Club 6d, because of its relevance - Pietermartizburg, a major settlement, being on the wagon route between Durban and Umzimkulu and the tokens would clearly have found their way into East Griqualand at the time they were issued.
The very rare Penny piece scanned below, ex Martin Badenhorst and Allyn Jacobs collections, is owned by the Balson Holdings Family Trust.
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The extremely rare ha'penny holed piece, ex Des Dewing collection, with the "card" stamp missing owned by the Balson Holdings Family Trust.
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[1815/16 Griqua Town "coins"]
[1860: Durban Club 6d] [1862 Durban
Bank £5 Bank Note] [1868: Griqua £1 Bank
Note]
[1874: Mount Currie Express Stamp]
[1874/1932: Strachan and Co Currency Tokens]
[1876 Pietermaritzburg Franklin Penny]
[Other E Griqualand Tokens]
[1870s Griqua Town
Patterns] [1890: Griqua Patterns]
[Other Serious Griqua Coin Collectors]
[The History of the Griqua People]
[Griqua Token Coins, Coins and Bank Notes]
[Web Site Text Site Map]
[Tokencoins.com Home Page]
[Other South African Metal Token Coins]
